Coconut Orange Cake

Delightful

As I mentioned before, we baked a lot during the Christmas break. I even forgot about my food diary…. How could I log in all the junk food that was consumed during the holiday season? One of our favourites was the Coconut Orange cake. The main ingredients are desiccated or shredded coconut, orange zest (rind) and milk, besides the basic cake ingredients. For those who don’t consume milk, you can use coconut, rice or almond milk or soy beverage as a substitute. I haven’t tried them myself, but I’m sure they would work just fine. The orange zest can also be substituted with lime or lemon zest (rind). I actually prefer the taste and aroma of lime. It has a stronger taste and gives the cake a longer shelf life. If you still feel energetic, after baking, you can top the cake with orange butter icing. We enjoyed eating this cake, and hope you do too.

I would like to leave you with a favourite line from Desiderata: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself”

Combine coconut and milk and let stand at room temperature for one hour. Grease a 23 x 13cm (9 x 5 inch) loaf pan (tin) and line the base and sides with parchment (greaseproof) paper. Sift the flour and baking powder. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) ten minutes before using.

Beat butter, rind and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, until combined. Fold in half the coconut mixture and half the flour, then fold in the remaining coconut mixture and flour, until combined.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan and bake at for 1-1¼ hours or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Stand 5 minutes, before transferring onto a wire rack to cool.

For cup measures: spoon the flour into the cup, heaping it up over the top, then slide a knife across the top to level off the extra. Be careful not to shake or tap the cup to settle down the flour or you will have more than you need. I use a 237ml American cup.

Points to Note:

Please note that oven temperatures are given as a guideline only. You may need to add or reduce the suggested temperature depending on your oven. I baked the cake at 325°C (160°C) for 1 hour.

Removing the cake from the tin was a bit of a challenge so I would strongly advice that you line the base and sides of the tin(pan)with parchment (greaseproof paper).

Last updated March 01 2019

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Step By Step Photos

Please always remember to assemble all ingredients before you start

Combine coconut and milk and let stand at room temperature for one hour. Grease a 13cm x 23cm (5” x 9”) loaf pan (tin) and line base and sides with parchment (greaseproof) paper.

Sift the flour

Combine butter, rind (zest) and sugar.

And beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs one at a time, until combined.

This is what the mixture looks like after beating in all the eggs.

Fold in half the coconut mixture and half the flour, then fold in the remaining coconut mixture and flour, until combined.

The final mixture (Batter) looks like this

Spoon mixture into the prepared pan and bake at 325°F (160°C) for 1-1¼ hours or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. I baked for 1 hour.

Stand 5 minutes, before transferring onto a wire rack to cool.

To prepare the orange butter icing: sift icing (confectioners) sugar into a bowl.

Stir in the butter and enough orange juice to make a spreadable consistency (I added about 1¾ tablespoons orange juice)

The butter icing looks like this

Spread the orange butter icing over the cooled cake and decorate with some oranges as desired.

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109 thoughts

Thank you Liz . Your cake looks amazing and i even tried your recipe! And it was delicious. My family really enjoyed. Im being asked to bake this delicious cake again. And i will have to increase the quantity.

Question: Butter is really expensive at the moment where i live . Can i substitute butter with vegetable oil. Please advice. Thank you.

Is this the Dee that I know? I think the best substitute would be margarine. I believe it is way cheaper than butter. I sometimes use margarine when I’m baking especially if I want a softer texture. It does give a very nice texture to the cake. I don’t recommend vegetable oil because I’ve never tried it and I don’t know what the outcome would be. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate. Have a wonderful day
P/s you can also use 1/2 vegetable fat (white fat) and 1/2 margarine because you need the flavour from the margarine
Liz

Thanks for re-following me and sorry I took a break from blogging. There are too many things going on right now and I can’t seem to find time for the blog. I hope you’re having a great time. Take good care of yourself, gal. Have a lovely weekend, ahead!
Liz

As I like to say, often life interferes… A lot of bloggers end up taking breaks – it’s not just you my industrious friend.
Right now I’m with two of my grandchildren in PA and I’ve been cooking a lot for them – and enjoying it very much. As you know, I do NOT like to cook for myself.
I want to remake and photograph a really easy and delicious Rosemary Chicken, New Potatoes and Baby Carrots dish I made last night but didn’t have time to photograph. Tonight I’m making them a stuffed marinated pork loin… which I also won’t have time to photograph ’cause we’ve been eating around 4:20 in order to bring my granddaughter to gymnastics etc.
So, although we’re still cooking, sometimes life gets in the way and we just don’t have the time to photograph and post everything. ; o )
(Heading from here to our Pocono house in a few days… it only takes about 1 1/2 hours to get there from here! (As opposed to about 4 1/2 when I leave from my house in Mass.) Hope all is well with you and yours my friend!!

I’m glad to hear you’re still spending time with your grandkids and cooking too! Rosemary chicken with new potatoes sounds great. and stuffed marinated pork loin sounds even better.
I haven’t been cooking new things of late. I need to get back into cooking mode asap. I’m missing out on a lot of things!
I hope you enjoy your time in Pocono House. Have a wonderful weekend my friend and take good care of yourself and the grandkids!
Liz

Hi Jlil
I would not recommend substituting desiccated coconut with coconut oil because the coconut gives it texture and the oil has not texture.
The orange zest can be substituted with extract.
Yes you should at least get the desiccated coconut, thanks.
Happy baking and thanks so much for visiting my blog. Have a lovely weekend, ahead!
Liz

I made 2 versions of this, one vegan and according to the recipe, and for the first time ever the vegan version actually rose more than the one with eggs in it. I used NoEgg, but also added a good dollop of tahini which I think must have made the difference. Much of the magic of eggs is due to their proteins, so I added tahini to make up for the strange lack of protein in NoEgg.

Well, Miranda just informed me we should make your cake tomorrow. The orange will be removed from the freezer. I will put it in the microwave for a few seconds. The coconut is in the freezer, too. Guess what she wants for a frosting…ganache!!! Well, it’s off to the store I go for some cream. I have everything else.

Hi,
Did you make the cake? I am eager to hear how it went with ganache frosting. I can just visualize the cake with warm Ganache flowing over the top…it must be so delicious. Please keep me posted. Best wishes and enjoy Sunday!!!
Liz

We didn’t get together yet but maybe today or tomorrow. Again, I must say that the ganache will only be made if the cake turns out. I REALLY do hate to waste product. AND, I will try to remember the photo!!!

Hi,
Does it taste good after the freezing? I think you should whip it out and make the orange cake. It’s arguably one of the best cakes I ever made. I loved it more than words can express. I wish you a lovely weekend!
Liz

[…] over at My Favourite Pastime recently had a recipe for coconut orange cake. The timing could not have been better. I have been wanting to make a cake for afternoon tea and […]
Hey Mama D, thanks so much for trying out the recipe. I shall try a chocolate chip version, next time I make this cake. Enjoy the rest of the week!
Liz

Hi Hari,
I wonder what the Pandan flavoured treats taste like. Next time I’m in the baking aisle I’ll check it out. They are probably found in some speciality stores. Thanks, Hari. Have a wonderful week!
Liz

Hi Mama D,
I am so happy to hear that it’s up and it turned out incredibly tasty. I am on my way to give it a glimpse. Thanks for trying out the recipe. I shall also try it with some chocolate chips next time. Will keep you posted. Thanks and have a lovely week!
Liz

Aaaaah, I can inhale the smell and almost taste this yummy piece when I get really close to the screen. I have saved the recipe, i know it’s going to be a hit. Thank you so much for sharing.
Love, Dina

Hi DIna,
My second name is actually Dina, but I made it fancy and changed it to Diana. (the days of Princess Diana…). That is one of the best cakes I ate last year. I have to bake it again. I loved it. Have a wonderful week!
Liz

Wow, you left me mouth watering again, Liz! I won’t forgive you for having let me see this recipe at this time of the day here in Spain (9:45 am).
Ok, now I have to go sort out this mess in my stomach 😉
Besos

Oh my! I am almost salivating looking at this cake! We are trying to eat really healthy and exercise….only trouble is a bad bronchial virus is laying us low right now. I don’t know when I’ve coughed so hard! One of us is now up and about and I’m feeling like I will be soon….one to go! We are in the land of coconuts and anyway they are supposed to be very healthy! I doubt it would take much arm twisting to get this on the table! I will try! Thanks Liz! Hope your week is going well?

Sandy,
I’m so sorry to hear about the bronchial virus. My son was sick too but luckily he’s now feeling better. Please try and make the cake one day, when you have some time. Thanks Sandy for supporting me, always. Times get so busy sometimes-we’re having a BB tournament this weekend. We won our first game so far. Have a lovely weekend!
Liz

I love that look of the icing on top! P.S., I’ve been weighing stuff more, when a recipe calls for it, and really liking the results. It makes me feel like I’m making something closer to what was intended. And it’s so true what you said about the oven temperature; I set mine at 300 when I want it to bake something that calls for 350!

Hi Dave,
Thanks so much for liking that icing on top. I loved eating it. I love weighing because you always end up with the same quality and taste. I’m glad you agree. I always set my oven higher. I don’t have a very sophisticated oven. One of this fine days I should budget for a more modern one. Have a lovely weekend!
Liz